276 



THE AGEICULTURAL NEWS. 



September 8, 1906. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



FOOD VALUE OF NUTS. 



Indian Mantiiig and Gard&ning (Jul}" 14), has 

 an article on the food value of nuts, from which the 

 following is extracted : — 



As an ideal food auts come a good first, as they contain 

 all the chemical elements of a perfect food. The other day 

 ■we referred to the ' Bambarra Ground Xut ' ( Vocuuheia 

 suhtmanea), of which Balland said it was the first instance 

 known to him of ' a natural substance possessing to an 

 equal degree the chemical features of a complete food ; ' and 

 this may with safety be said of many other nuts. 



Let us see what India possesses in the way of nuts. 

 There is first the walnut, '.vhich grows and fruits in profusion 

 in the Himalayas. The nuts are commonly met with all 

 over India at a very moderate price. Next we have the 

 hazel nut, wliich also grows in profusion all over the 

 Himalayas. Both of these are e.xtremely wholesome nuts, 

 though perhaps a trifle oily. But the proportion of proteids 

 in both IS large, and they are both capable of supporting life 

 comfortably ; while in combination with something possessing 

 saccharine properties, such as rasins, dry figs, and apricots, 

 we get a perfect food. 



N.?xt we have the almond and the common ground nut. 

 Both of these are valuable : but as food, capable of sustaining 

 life, the c;round nut has the greater claim, not being quite so 

 oily as the almond. Again, there is the very common water-lily 

 nut, of which Europeans know little, but which is largely 

 consumed by the natives. These nuts are very tasty and 

 wholesome, and should be much more largelj' consumed by 

 Europeans in India than the)" are. The pistachio nut is another 

 valuable food, well worth cultivating. 



The cashew nut tree is commonly met with on the plains 

 of India. This nut, we consider, comes first among ail Indian 

 nuts as a complete food ; and the wonder is that the tree has 

 not been cultivated on a large scale. The nut is extremely 

 pleasant to the taste, and quite wholesome. A little prepara- 

 tion is necessary to fit it for food ; but the natives know what 

 to do, the operation being simple enough. 



There are some other nuts, used mostly by the natives, 

 such as the water-nut (Traja natans) and a few others : 

 but those we have named above are well known ; but they are 

 only consumed as dessert and not as a complete food. We 

 were almost omitting the ' Indian Almond,' the nut of 

 I'emiinalia Catappa, which has been likened to a filbert in 

 tlavour. Firminger say.s it has- 'the cri-spuess of a fresh 

 walnut : beyond comparison the most delicious of any kind 

 the country affords.' It is one of the commonest trees of the 

 Indian forest. 



A NEW ORANGE. 



Mr. I). Macgillivray, of Tobago, has written to the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture as follows : — 



I am forwarding to you by this opportunity two 

 specimens of a new orange which I have raised on my estate 

 Franklyns. 



The tree is the result of a cross between a seedless East 

 Indian [lomelow (Labuan) and a sweet orange. I have called 

 it the ' ISunbeam ' orange, not on account of its external 

 appearance, although that is jiicturesque, but on account of 

 the unexpected sweetness of the pulp which is contained in 

 much more delicate cells than those of the ordinary orange 

 or shaddock. The fruits vary in shape considerably, as will 

 be seen from the two specimens which I now send you. 

 These two are the first picking from a second bearing. The 

 tree bore for the first time in December last. I then sent two 

 specimens to Mr. Hart, who pronounced the fruit similar to 

 the ' Grenadine,' which he discovered some j'cars ago, and 

 which was supposed to be a cross between a shaddock and 

 a sweet orange. 



SPINELESS LIMES IN DOMINICA. 



The Annual Kepurt on the Dominica Botanic 

 Station contains the following interesting reference to 

 spineless limes : — 



The number of spine'.ess lime plants distributed .shows 

 a large increase over the n\imber sent out in any previous year. 

 Many of the trees distributed during 1902-3 are now bearing. 

 It is estimated that there are now 12,000 plants of this type 

 growing in the island. During the year I had the opportunity 

 of seeing fields of spineless limes just coming into bearing 

 in one of the windward districts. It was pointed out that 

 this ))lant, when about three or four years old, owing to 

 its erect growth, formed rather a heavy top, and was at that 

 age more likely to be overthrown by the wind than the 

 ordinary variety. This tendency to elongate will be corrected 

 as the trees come iijto bearing ; the weight of the fruit will 

 bring the branches down, and cause the trees to assume the 

 'same habit as the common lime. 



A close examination of spineless limes on several estates 

 showed that there is no fear of the plants developing spines 

 and reverting to the ordinary type. Plants of the intermediate 

 variety, which have a numl)er of blunt growths in place of 

 the sharp spines of the ordinary lime, have been jilanted out 

 and observed. In two or three years these plants have 

 become spineless, .showing that the tendency.'is to throw off 

 .spines and not towards developing them. ''■ ' 



